Fall for it. Justice finally ruled in favor of opponents of the installation of photovoltaic panels in Cruis, in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. But in the meantime, the company Boralex, which is leading the project, has already launched operations.
Several green victories, such as the recent release of anti-whaling activist Paul Watson or Norway's suspension of its underwater mining projects, marked the year 2024. But it was also marked by the success of several local struggles against polluting or environmentally destructive projects. Vert looks back at five times where local mobilizations paid off.
When we look at the photo of the Lure mountain, in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, it is difficult to conclude that the opponents of the photovoltaic park project have won. However, this is indeed the case. On May 31, the Marseille Administrative Court of Appeal ruled illegal the prefectural decree which allowed the Canadian company Boralex to deviate from environmental law to install its solar panels in Cruis. The court considered that the search for an alternative location solution “less impactful for biodiversity” had been “insufficient”.
But now, the signs are already there. Pierre Lavoie, 71, sees them from the land where he cultivates his almond trees. In place of what was previously a forest: “The area was burned in 2004, then Atlas cedars were replanted in 2008,” he remembers. A year later, the Boralex company began to take an interest in the sector, following a call for projects from the municipality of Cruis. After several years of delay, a building and land clearing permit was issued in 2017 for the installation of a photovoltaic park.
A young ratified forest
It was at this time that Pierre Lavoie met the environmental defense association Amilure, which had just been formed. Together, they organized opposition to this park project in the middle of the forest: “By looking at the Boralex file, we realized that the exemption concerning the destruction of the habitat of protected species was missing. The company couldn’t clear land without it.”
The Boralex company specifies Vert having made this request for exemption in August 2019. If the National Council for the Protection of Nature (CSPN) spoke out against it, the prefect issued an authorization order in January 2020, “granting an exemption from the ban on the destruction of protected species”adds the company. The last lock is blown, the legal proceedings begin. A litigation appeal was launched in July 2020 before the administrative court of Marseille. The hearing takes place in January 2023. A month later, the request is rejected.
As the appeal is not suspensive in any case, clearing began in the sector in September 2022, “with all the mess it made. There were all kinds of clashes between opponents and foresters”continues Pierre Lavoie. After the destruction of the young forest, work began during the summer of 2023. When last May, the Marseille court finally ruled in favor of the opponents, the site was already built.
Boralex is preparing a new study
“In retrospect, they are illegal, but we find ourselves faced with a fait accompli. It’s a legal victory but the problem is how to transform it into a de facto victory,” asks the activist. Following the judgment, Boralex received a prefectural order of formal notice to regularize the administrative situation of the Cruis solar park: dismantle or reformulate a request for exemption.
The company announces that it has “has chosen to produce a new in-depth and updated impact study”. She must aim “to propose additional reduction or compensation measures appropriate to the challenges of the in-depth study of direct and indirect impacts”.
The association now intends to attack the prefectural decree which allows exploitation. Because since August, the park has been in service: “We hear the inverters. They are exploiting at the moment, which is not logical”Pierre Lavoie despairs. Boralex specifies that it acts completely legally: “The cancellation of the protected species exemption does not call into question Boralex's right to operate the Cruis solar power plant, which will supply 12,000 people with green electricity annually.” The company would also like to point out that the building permit and the clearing authorization “have not been called into question and are purged of all appeals”.
